China to cooperate with Crimea after situation stabilizes

BEIJING, March 18. /ITAR-TASS/. China will develop cooperation with Crimea after the situation in the republic stabilizes, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce Shen Danyang told a news conference on Tuesday.

Commenting on the results of Crimea’s referendum and the future of China’s investment projects, the spokesman said: “The situation in Ukraine remains tense. We are closely following the latest developments.”

“Trade cooperation between China and Ukraine continues to develop as usual,” he said. “However, devaluation of Ukraine’s currency will have a certain impact on Ukrainian-Chinese trade relations.”

Shen stressed that the current situation was “temporary”.

“China will continue developing mutually-beneficial cooperation,” he said. “We hope that the situation in Ukraine will stabilize very soon. As for Crimea, we are ready for cooperation after the situation there gets back to normal.”

China will start implementing a number of investment projects in Ukraine. Besides, there are plans to lease about 10,000 hectares of agricultural land in Crimea.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the 2013 trade between China and Ukraine amounted to $11.12 billion, showing a 7.3% increase year-on-year.